Railway signal apparatus



A (No Model.)

F. LANE. RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUS.

No. 288,348. P ented Nov; 13. 1883 A N. PEI'ERs. Pholml-ilhugmpher. wuhin wn. DJ;

In the use of such signal apparatus it sometimes 1 Y UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFI JE,

FRED LANE, onnosron, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUS.

, srnczrrcnrron forming part f; Letters Patent No. 288,348, datedNoyember '13, 1883. T

Application filed September 8, 1883. (No model.)

T0 a/ZZ whom it Hwy-concern.-

invented an Improvement in Railway Signal Apparatus, of which the following descrip tion, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention is embodied in a signal or alarm such as employed at the points where a highway crosses a railway-track at grade, the

. a said signal normally being automatically set in operation by an approaching train while at a considerable distance therefrom, and stopped when the train arrives at and passes the signal.

happens that a train passes the point for starting the signal, but fails to pass the crossing or point for stopping thesignal, it turning aside upon a branch track, or stopping and backing on, instead of passing on by the crossing and stopping the signal, so that the latter might continue in operation indefinitely. This has been obviated by the employment of a mechan-, ical motor or time movement which is released whenever the signal is set in operation, and

itself operates, after a definite periodof time,

to stop the signal independently of the action of the train,if the latter has not already stopped the signal. Such amotor requires to be wound up from time to time; and the present invention consists, partly,in the combination,with a device controlled byan approaching'train for setting a signal in operation, of an electromotor the circuit of which is also controlledby the said train,.the said motor being adapted to stop the signal after a definite period of :operation. The said electromotoris itself subsequentlystopped and its own circuit opened.

The invention is shownas applied toa single-track road: over which trainspass in both 3 directions, and it isnecessary for the proper operation that the train moving away from the, crossing should not operate the signal.

The mechanism of the signal is such that it is i set in operation by a momentary change in an electric circuit, (shown in this instance asthe closing ofa normally-open circuit,) and in order to prevent the signal from being operated when the train is receding from the crossing an intermediate instrument is employed for keeping the circuit open untilafter the train has passed beyond the circuit-closing instrument. Prior to this my invention" such a de vice for keepingthe circuit open has been employed, consisting of a mechanical. motor or clock-work released by the train passing by it, and adapted to keep the circuit open for a definite interval of time after the train 'has thus started the motor. In the present invention an electromotor is employed to retain the circuit thus open, the said motor being kept in operation as long as any portion of the train is passing over, and retaining the circuit open for a definite period afterthelast wheels of a train have passed. t

Figure 1 represents,mainly in diagram, th circuits and mechanism constituting a railway signal apparatus embodying this invention, the frame-work of the mechanicalparts being omitted for greater clearness; Fig. 2, a detail of a portion of the device for keeping the main circuit broken, to prevent a receding train'from operating the signal; and Fig. 3, a

Fig. 2. y

The signal proper at the crossing or-other net M, the normally-open circuit of which is plan view of parts of the portion shown in point is set in operation by the starting-mag i as follows: One pole of the battery B is connected by wire 2 with one of the rails R of the track, which is made electrically continuous for a sufficient distance at either side of the crossing. The other pole of the said battery is connected by wire 3 with one electrode of the magnet M, the other electrode of which.

is connected by wire 4, having suitable branchwheels of passing trains, the said bars consti-,

tuting track-instruments, forwhich any other form of track-instrument may be substituted without departing from this invention.

es, with bars a at the side of the rail, and l The armature-lever b of the magnet M, when attracted by the momentary impulse or current of the battery B, applied by closing its circuit y at a, operates a circuit-closer, c, in the local circuit of the signal S, which may be of any suitable or usual construction, it being shown as a yibrating bell, although any signal oper= IOQ ated or controlled bythe movement of the armature?) would come within the scope of the present invention. The armature-lever b, when thus attracted, is engaged and retained by the armature-lever d of the releasing or signalstopping magnet M, which is also included in the circuit of the battery B by the wires 3, 5, 6, and 2, the said wire 6 being connected with a track-instrument, a, similar to the one a, and the armature of the magnet M being normally retracted until the wheels arrive at the said instrument af, closing the circuit of the said magnet and causing its armature to be attracted, and thus release thearmature-lever b of the magnet M, which is then retracted, causing the signal S to'cease operating. It will be seen that the signal will remain in operation until the armature-lever b is released by the armature d, and in case the attraction of the magnet M were alone depended on the signal would remain in operation until the train arrived at a, so that in case the train passed either of the instruments a, and then stopped and backed off or turned aside before arriving at a, the signal would continue in operation indefinitely, giving a false alarm. This result is obviated by means of an electromotor, consisting in this instance, essentially, of a ratchet-disk, e,.and an actuating electro-magnet, M and its armaturelever f, pivoted at f, and provided with a spring-pawl, J, to engage the said ratchet e and rotate the same as the said armature-lever vibrates to and from the poles of the magnet, it being arranged to automatically break and close its own local circuit, 20, including the battery'B' in the usual manner, and being provided with a weight, f, to give it a slow pendulous movement, so that the disk 6 may of the actuating-pawlf The disk e is providedwith a laterally-projectingpin, 6*, which, in the rotation of the said wheel, engages the inclined end d of the armature-lever d, thus mechanically raising it and disengaging it from the lever 12, if the latter is then held by the one (if, and thus stopping the signal independently of the action of the magnet M.

The armature-lever b is provided with aprojeotion or shoulder, b, which, when the said lever is retracted, lies in the path of a stoparm, h, having a yielding connection with the disk 6, and being electrically insulated therefrom, the said arm forming one terminal of the local circuit 20 of the magnet M", it being shown as connected with a hub on the farther side of the disk, and the said hub touched by the contact-spring h. V

The disk e is provided with asprin'g, i, tending to give-the arm h a forward rotary movement relative to the disk 6, so that the moment the said arm is released by the forward movement of the lever b, which sets the-signal in operation, the said arm springs forward tothe position shown in dotted lines, coming in contact with a spring, i, electrically connected with the disk 6, and forming the other terminal of the local circuit 20.of the magnet M which is thus closed by the same movement of the armature-lever b that sets the signal S in operation. The disk 6 will then be rotated by the armature-lever f, carrying the arm h around with it, until the pin a operates the lever d, if the latter has not been previously moved by the magnet M, as will usually be the ease, and will move on until the arm h is arrested by the shoulder b, after which the wheel 0 will still be turned for a space of one or two teeth, moving it forward relative to the said arm h until the local circuit 20 is broken at 2', thus effectually stopping the motor. a

In order to prevent a train, after passing the crossing or instrument a, from again setting the signal in operation when it arrives at and passes the instrument a beyond the crossing in the direction in which it is moving, intermediate instruments, A, are employed, one only of which is shown in Fig. 1,to prevent the train connecting the circuit at (LR of the magnet M from effectually closing the said circuit. The instrument A consists, essentially, of a circuit-breaker, 7c, in the circuit-wire 4 of the starting-magnet M, the said circuitbreaker being operated by an.electromotor consisting of a ratchet-disk, m, operated byan electro-magnet, M and its vibrating armaturelever and paw], operating similarly to the one before described, the said magnet M being included in the circuit of the battery B one pole of which is connected by wire 7 with the rail'R or ground, and the other pole by wires 8, 4, and 9 with the electro-magnet M and its armature-lever, the back stop of which is connected by wire 10, including a circuitcloser, a, with the rail R, thus'completing the circuit of the said magnet M when the circuit-closer a is closed. The said disk m, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is fixed uponya shaft or arbor, m, which has loose upon it an arm, 0, connected with hubs 0 0 of insulat ing material, alsoloose on the said shaft at either side of the disk m, the said arm and hubs o 0 being connected by a pin, 0 pass,

' ing through a curved slot in the disk m, as

shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, so that the said arm has a limited movement on the shaft m relative to the disk m, the said relative movement being limited by the engagement of the pin 0 with the ends of the slot in the disk-m. A spring, ntends to turn the arm 0 in the direction of rotation of the disk m. The shaft m has fixed upon it, and turning with it and the disk m, hubs m m, of insulating material, at either side of the hubs 0 0, connected with the arm- 0. The said hubs m n are provided with notches m 0*, which coincide when the arm 0 is moved backward with relation to the idisk m as far as permitted by the pin 0 the Espring p then being strained. The hubs m? of are also provided with notches m 0 which [also coincide at the same time thatthe notches I n50 do. 1 The arm is adapted to be engaged and held by a shoulder, r, on an armature-lever, 1", of an electro-magnet, r", the circuit of which is controlled by a track-instrument, a",

at an intermediate point between the instruments a a. When the arm 0 is in this posi- Ytion, held by the armature-lever r, the notches 0 0 are in position to receive theend of one of the springs of the circuit-closernand circuit-breaker 75, respectively, and if, when in this positionthe disk on is so rotated forward as far as'permitted by the pin 0 the notches mi and m arealso brought into position to re ceive the ends of the springs of the said circuit-breaker, which springs bear on the periphery of both hubs m 0 and m 0 NVhen the springs are thuspermitted to drop into the notches, the circuit-breaker k is closed, while the circuit-closer a is open, this being the nor mal condition. Them-however, a train passing away from the. crossing closes at a" the circuit of the magnet W, the arm 0 is released and immediately thrown forward by the spring i a (2'5 9, raisingthe springs of the instruments It and n, opening the former and closing the latter, which thus sets the armature of the magnet M j into operation, causing the disk to rotate,'car1 rying the arm 9 with it, and the latter remain- ,ing in itsforward position under the action of the spring 1). Vhen in the rotation of the i said disk and arm the latter arrives at and is arrested by the armature-lever 1-, the instrumentslc and a are not affected, and the disk on will consequently continue to rotate. If the train has not passed off from the instrument i. a whenthe arm 0 arrives opposite the shoulder 1', the said arm will not be arrested, orwill beimmediately released, and the disk in will continue tomove for another rotation without permitting the circuit-breaker k. to close .or the circuit-closer a to open. If, however, the last wheels'of the train have passed from the instrument a just before the arm 0 arrives at the shoulder r, the said arm will be arrested, but the disk m will have to continue to rotate the distance permitted by the pin 0 and curved slot before bringing the notches m a into positionto receive the springs of the instruments k and n, and the time occupied-by such further rotation of the disk m will be greater than that occupied by the last wheels of the slowest train passing from the instrument a 'to and beyond the instrument a. v

It will be seen that the breaking of the circuit at It follows practically instantaneously upon the charging of the magnet 1?, so that v the instruments a a imay be placed very close together, a distance of a few feet being sufficient. The magnet r is in a branch, 12, of the wire 4, and when its circuit is closed at a" the l magnet M is also included in the said circuit; but the resistance of the said magnets r and M is so proportioned that when both are included in the circuit the armature of the magasasns 3 net 1- alone will be affected. The armaturelever 0", after it has been attracted to release the arm o,"wil1, on the next breaking of the circuit at a fall back until arrested by a stoppin, 15, at a sufficient distance from the poles of the magnet r to prevent it from being moved by the subsequentattractionof the said magnet, so that it will not vibrate as the circuit-is closed and broken at a by the passage of the successive wheels of the train. The arm 0, in its rotation, will engage the armature-lever 1" above its shoulder and restore the said armature to 'therange of attractive influence of the magnet if. v

I do not herein claim the instrument A as an independent apparatus, as it will form the subject of another application for Letters Patent. l v

. I claim- V 1. The combination of the starting and stopping electro magnets and their armaturelevers, 00- operating together as described, with an electromotor adapted to be set in operation simultaneously with the operation of the starting-magnet, and cooperating with the armature-1ever of the releasing-magnet, whereby the latter is caused to disengage the armature-lever of the starting-magnet at the end of a definite interval of time, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The co-operating starting and stopping electro-magnets and their armatures, combined with the electromotor, comprising a. rotating disk andastop-arm loosely connected therewith, controlled by the armature-lever of the starting-magnet, and a circuit-closer for the actuating-battery of the said motor, operated by the movement of the said arm relative 'to the said disk, substantially as described.

3. The starting electro-magnet andarmature and the stopping electro-magnet and its armature, controlling the armature of the startingmagnet, combined with the electromotor, the circuit of which is controlled by the armature-lever of the starting-magnet, no

substantially as described. a i

4:. The signal-starting eleetro magnet and circuit therefor, containing a circuit-controlling track-instrunient, and an intermediate circuit-controlling instrument between the said track-instrument and magnet, combined with an electromotor and track-instrument therefor, the said motor reversing thenormal condition of the intermediate instrument while in operation, and being adapted to remain in I20 operation for a period of time after the entire train has passed its track-instrument, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of I2 5 two subscribing witnesses. I s v FRED LANE. lVitnesses: J cs. 1?. Lrvnmuonn,

W. H. Siescron. 

